Re: you want to change user expectations

Ron Hunter wrote:
> On 8/16/2011 1:07 PM, Asa Dotzler wrote:
>> Panda wrote:
>>> Actually I am dissappointed that the UI team aims to change user
>>> expectations.
>>
>> I'm not really sure how to respond to this.
>>
>> It's my opinion that a primary role of a UI/UX designer is to make life
>> easier for users. If a user's expectation is that something is
>> difficult, and the UX folks want them to have an experience that's not
>> difficult, you think that's disappointing?
>>
>> - A
> I think the problem is that users don't always perceive the new way of
> doing things as easier, given that most people instinctively resist
> change, and don't like to change their habits.

That is indeed a problem. It's a lot bigger problem than just Firefox

though. That's a part of the human condition. People hated extensions in 
the early days of Firefox development and insisted that all of those 
features be built into the browser. We resisted and today extensions are 
one of the features that every browser wants to copy Firefox on. People 
hated tabbed browsing when we first introduced it in Mozilla -- I can 
remember all the cries of "but the OS is the window manager, not the 
browser".  Even self-proclaimed usability experts came down in 
opposition to tabbed browsing and long debates and even flame wars 
erupted. But we stuck to our guns, popularized tabbed browsing, and now 
every browser has followed suit.

It's a truism that users resist change and don't always recognize the 
value of change immediately. Some never do. But over time I think that 
most of the changes that browsers have made over the last decade have 
proved themselves positive. If they hadn't people would not have moved 
from IE6 and that's where the Web would be today.

- A